"Look, there's a great big hunk of world down there, with no fence around it. Where two dogs can find adventure and excitement. And beyond those distant hills, who knows what wonderful experiences? And it's all ours for the taking, Pige. It's all ours." -Tramp
Initial thoughts before viewing: I was familiar with Lady and the Tramp, but it was never a favorite. As a general rule of thumb, I tend to shy away from movies about animals because I hate seeing them in vulnerable positions. I'm very sensitive to animal suffering (even animated animals). 🐕💕🐈
If you've never seen Lady and the Tramp or need a refresher, here is a link to the movie's Disney Wiki page where you can read the plot summary.
Highlights:
-A Dog's Perspective 👀 I like that all the shots focus on Lady's perspective and we don't actually see the faces of the humans too much during the movie. We never even know the real names of Lady's owners: they're referred to as "Jim Dear" and "Darling" because that's how Lady hears them referring to one another. The story is all told from Lady's innocent and somewhat naïve point of view ("What is a baby?"). This is great mechanic to get us emotionally invested and sympathizing with Lady as the humans in the story become more and more of a threat to her happy way of life.
Disliked:
-How easily Tramp changes his mind. 🤔 Tramp spends a lot of the movie preaching about how he loves his freedom and life as a stray. When Lady asks if he has a family, he replies, "One for every day of the week. The point is, none of them have me." 👏
Truthfully, Tramp's life does seem joyful and full of adventure. It's a stark contrast the to tumultuous life that Lady is enduring at this point in the story with an attention-hogging new baby and dog-hating Aunt Sarah at home. By the end of the movie though, Tramp is suddenly content to adopt "life on a leash" and join Lady's family. It's an abrupt change in his character and it's not really explained or addressed. So...Tramp's kind of a sellout?
-Why are the only cats in this movie so EVIL? In addition to perpetuating Asian stereotypes, these cats are plain butt heads. Even I, an uber cat lover and fanatic, can't find anything redeemable about these two. They're basically the worst (and NOT representative of the good, decent cats I know!)
-The Dog Pound scene. I don't need to see the suffering of animated dogs. I GET IT. HUMANS ARE TERRIBLE. Damn you, Disney.
Closing Thoughts:
-Lady and the Tramp is fine. 🥱
Apologies to all the big Lady and the Tramp devotees out there, but my rewatch has led me to this conclusion: it's an okay movie. Truthfully, I struggled to pay attention while watching it. Yes, it has the iconic spaghetti dinner sequence, but honestly that scene has been SO parodied that it feels slightly like overkill to watch it (even if it is the original).
I don't dislike this movie - I'm more apathetic. I mean, is Lady and the Tramp anyone's favorite Disney movie? Could you name any of the characters (minus the leads) or songs? There are just too many other Disney animated movies that are way better than this one, so unfortunately Lady and the Tramp falls short by not being able to compare to its predecessors.
My Rating: 3.5/10
My Rating Scale/System:
10 - Masterpiece / Award Worthy 🤩
9 - Almost perfect / Exceptional 🥰
8 - Great / Well-crafted 😁
7 - Good / Noteworthy 😊
6 - Above average / Memorable 🙂
5 - Solidly average 😐
4 - Mixed feelings / Mediocre 😕
3 - Uninteresting / Struggle bus 🥱
2 - Barely watchable 😡
1 - Failure / Why is this a thing? 💩
